The Best free AI tools for students can help you learn, save time, and help you understand complex topicsWhether you’re looking to improve your writing, solve maths questions, research a topic, or revise, there are a range of AI tools available for free.
They can be used to help you from school, college, or universityYou’ll want to choose the right AI tool to help support your learning.
1ChatGPT – Best for Learning & Homework
ChatGPT is an AI tool that can help you understand complicated topics, help with brainstorming ideas, summarising, and revisingThe free option gives you many useful tools to help your learningHowever, it may restrict how many times you use it.
Best for:
- Explaining complex topics in simple terms.
- Creating practice questions and quizzes.
- Creating essay plans and revising.
- Checking your answers.
You can ask ChatGPT to explain a complex topic such as photosynthesis in simple termsThen create 5 practice questions for yourself.
2Google Gemini – Best for Research & Study
This can help you research, understand topics, brainstorm ideas, and organise your studiesUseful if you need to get started with researching a school project.
You can ask it to compare two historical events, explain a scientific theory, or help with questions to include in a class presentation.
As it is free, the tools available can varyYou can view the details of what is included in your current plan.
Pro tip: Always double-check important facts using textbooks, academic papers, or reliable websites.
3Grammarly – Best for Writing Skills
This can help you improve your grammar, spelling, punctuation, and sentencesThe free tools are great for improving your essays, emails, reports, and other academic documents.
If you have long or confusing sentences in your essay, Grammarly will highlight any possible issues and give you suggestions on how to make your sentences clearer.
Use this tool to help improve your writing while still keeping your own ideasSome of the advanced writing features are not free.
4QuillBot – Best for Paraphrasing & Summarising
This can help improve your writing by paraphrasing sentences, summarising text, and making it clearer to readIt can be useful for going through complex study material and creating revision notes.
You can use the summariser tool to quickly find out what the main points are within a long piece of text.
However, paraphrasing isn’t stealing someone else’s workAlways reference properly and follow your institution’s rules regarding academic integrity.
5Perplexity – Best for Research
This is an AI search and answer tool that can help you explore questionsIt often includes references which can help you with your research.
Useful for researching a topic, comparing opinions, or finding sources to include in your presentation.
Always double-check that the source you are referencing actually supports the information given by visiting the original pageThere can be mistakes with the answers and references given by AI.
6Photomath – Best for Maths
This can help you solve maths questionsDepending on the tools available, you can use your phone camera or input by handIt can show you step-by-step explanations for many maths questions.
Students can use this to go over algebra, equations, and other maths topics.
Rather than just copying down the answer, look through each step and attempt a similar questionThis will help improve your problem-solving skills.
7Canva – Best for Presentations & Graphics
This is a design tool with free templates and some AI toolsStudents can use this to create presentations, posters, infographics, and other visual study resources.
For example, you could create a biology diagram, renewable energy presentation, or a visual timeline for your history assignment.
Some templates, design elements, and AI tools aren’t freeHowever, there are enough free tools to create many basic student projects.
Which is the Best Free AI Tool?
Depending on what you want to achieve whilst studying:
- Homework & explanations – ChatGPT or Gemini
- Improving grammar & writing – Grammarly
- Paraphrase & summaries – QuillBot
- Researching – Perplexity
- Maths practice – Photomath
- Presentations & graphics – Canva
You won’t need all of theseTry one or two to help with your main issues whilst studying.
Final Thoughts
The best free AI tools for students can help you whilst learning, improve your writing skills, help with researching, and organising your exam revisionChatGPT and Gemini can help with general learning, whereas Grammarly, Perplexity, Photomath, QuillBot, and Canva can help with specific areas.
Remember that AI tools can make mistakes, and the free versions can have limits on how much you can use themUse them to help you understand concepts, check your work, and improve your skillsHowever, critical thinking and effort from you are still needed to succeed academically.
